Simona Carini serves recipes and Italian words related to food

Novel Food

March 30, 2018

Welcome to the roundup of the 32nd edition of Novel Food, the literary/culinary event that Lisa of Champaign Taste and I created in 2007. Novel Food is about literary works (prose or poetry) that inspire the preparation of dishes. I continue to host this event with great pleasure, as it brings together two of my passions: literature and food. Every edition delivers a great reading list and a lovely set of recipes. Book-loving food bloggers have contributed posts, each describing a literary work that the blogger read and the dish that the reading inspired. Please, follow me on a short literary/culinary...
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March 27, 2018

a vegan version of mole poblano that goes with vegetables (napkin by La FABBRICA del LINO) In September 2014, I attended LongHouse, where I met Carlos Gaytan, chef of the restaurant Mexique in Chicago1. He brought his mole sauce to the event and I fell in love with something I had not tasted before. Since then, I have kept alive a desire to make a version of mole poblano and finally the current selection of the Cook the Books club, The Discovery of Chocolate by James Runcie2 gave me the necessary nudge. In this historical novel, young Diego travels to the...
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March 16, 2018

there is no secret, though there is a sauce (napkin by La FABBRICA del LINO) I enjoyed reading the novel Among the Lesser Gods by Margo Catts1 more than I expected. I read Deb of Kahakai Kitchen's review2 tried my luck at her giveaway and won a copy. Once I started reading the book, it was hard to put it down: I wanted to know whether Elena would sort out her life, how the children she takes care of would adjust to their new life, whether the truth of Elena's aunt's disappearance decades earlier would eventually emerge. Everything in the book...
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February 27, 2018

Spring is on its way and with it comes another edition of Novel Food, the culinary/literary event with a long history, going back to the fall of 2007. I read a lot and cook a lot and although many things in my life have changed in the years since, those two pillars still stand and support me. I am announcing another edition of Novel Food, a little voyage of literary discovery and also a delightful party with the literary-inspired dishes contributed by event's participants. I hope you will join. I am looking forward to learning about a published literary work (a...
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October 14, 2017

Welcome to the roundup of the 31st edition of Novel Food, the literary/culinary event that Lisa of Champaign Taste and I created in 2007 — 10 years ago! Novel Food is about literary works (prose or poetry) that inspire the preparation of dishes. I continue to host this event with great pleasure, as it brings together two of my passions: literature and food. Once again, book-loving food bloggers have contributed a set of lovely posts, each describing a literary work that the blogger read and the dish that the reading inspired. Please, follow me on a short literary/culinary tour. For each...
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October 08, 2017

what happens when you drop a poppy seedpod (on La FABBRICA del LINO placemat) In the many years I have been hosting Novel Food I have contributed and received contributions inspired by a wide range of literature, from thick novels to flash nonfiction, from intense memoir to moving poems. One category of books notably absent from the Novel Food library is so-called self-improvement books, which examine a life's problem and offer advice on a way forward (I prefer to avoid the word "solution" which is better applied to math problems). The Sweet Spot: How to Find Your Groove at Home and...
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September 30, 2017

a personal take on an Italian classic Laura Ingalls Wilder's Farmer Boy, the current selection of our Cook the Books Club, is a well-known children's book in the US. It was an interesting read, giving me a glimpse into some of the literature people my age were exposed to during their childhood and a view into rural life and related activities in an age and place quite removed from mine. For Almanzo and his family the year was marked by the seasonal work they did, and that work is described in detail by Ingalls Wilder. There is also moral content, mostly...
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September 07, 2017

I am hosting another edition of Novel Food, the culinary/literary event with a long history, going back to the fall of 2007. I read a lot and cook a lot and although many things in my life have changed in the years since, those two pillars still stand. So, here I am announcing another edition of Novel Food, a little voyage of literary discovery and also a delightful party with the literary-inspired dishes contributed by event's participants. I hope you will join. I am looking forward to learning about a published literary work (a novel, novella, short story, memoir, bio, poem,...
Read more →

July 09, 2017

Welcome to the roundup of the 30th edition of Novel Food, the literary/culinary event that Lisa of Champaign Taste and I created in 2007 and that I continue to host with great pleasure, as it brings together two of my passions: literature and food. Novel Food is about literary works (prose or poetry) that inspire the preparation of dishes. Below I present a set of lovely posts, each describing a literary work that the blogger read and the dish that the reading inspired. Please, follow me on a short literary/culinary tour. For each contribution, I will offer a small bite to...
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July 07, 2017

a pretty bowl of mushroom and egg salad I simply loved Anya von Bremzen's Mastering the Art of Soviet Cooking: A Memoir of Food & Longing1, the current selection of our Cook the Books Club. The story is interesting: von Bremzen describes her and her family's life in the context of the political changes in Russia, the Soviet Union, then Russia again. Her style of writing is engaging — with the right balance of humor and seriousness. The food she describes is intriguing: even when we don't feel like we want to taste it, the emotional context comes alive in her...
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To use any of the photographs published in the blog permission must be obtained from Simona
No food was (nor will ever be) discarded in the process of taking the photographs, i.e., everything was consumed either immediately or in due time